After analyzing annual water loss audits for the city of Dallas, GA, the team discovered significant issues around non-revenue water. In 2014, real and apparent water loss accounted for 31.3 million gallons — nearly 20 percent of the city’s total water supplied for the year — which meant lost revenue for the city.
Located just south of Montgomery, Alabama, the City of Troy is a unique mix of southern small-town charm and big-city amenities. Read the full case study to learn how the City leveraged Sensus’ Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) solution to gather more data and monitor for issues likes leaks or pipe breaks
Just as different water utilities use different processes for turning raw source water into potable drinking water, so too do they take different routes to account for, and bill for, their output. Here is an overview of a cellular-based approach to collecting and leveraging data from water distribution operations that can achieve the greatest business advantage.
Many thermal mass flow meters are of the insertion type. As a starting point, proper insertion depth and straight run per the manufacturer’s recommendations should be adhered to.
Nearly 4.7 billion gallons of water were saved in 2013 alone through installation of Badger Meter water utility solutions.
Handwheel or automated process valve? The worldwide trend is clearly moving towards automation, because it reduces energy and water consumption, especially rinsing water, and increases plant availability. Pneumatic automation of a fixed-bed filter is a good example of this.
The TrojanUVPhox™ installation at Tucson's Advanced Oxidation Process Water Treatment Facility treats 1,4-dioxane and produces water that is blended and then treated at the neighboring Tucson Airport Remediation Project facility. This purified water is supplied to nearly 50,000 end users.
Revenue for water utilities is circling the drain. Most commercial water meters can stand up to the high water flow of commercial water customers, but these same meters often have a hard time measuring low water flows and retaining accurate meter reads over time and continuous flow conditions. Grocery stores, for example, do not pay for the scant amount of water used for produce misters because it passes through many commercial water meters without detection. These low flows add up to big dollars and are forcing water utilities to take a hard look at the accuracy of their meter fleet.
This article is in support of the Imagine a Day Without Water campaign — a national online movement to raise awareness about the value of water and water infrastructure. See more articles on AMERICAN’s Imagine a Day Without Water home page.
Keeping the water in our lakes, rivers, and streams clean requires monitoring of water quality at many points as it gradually makes its way from its source to our oceans. Over the years ever increasing environmental concerns and regulations have heightened the need for increased diligence and tighter restrictions on wastewater quality.
QuEChERS is a Quick-Easy-Cheap-Effective-Rugged-Safe extraction method that has been developed for the determination of pesticide residues in agricultural commodities.
The Real UV254 'P' series portable meters can be used to measure UV transmittance (UVT) in a number of situations, and are especially beneficially when working with small UV disinfection systems. The following cases outline two situations in which Real Tech's portable meters are invaluable.
Years ago, high purity water was used only in limited applications. Today, deionized (Dl) water has become an essential ingredient in hundreds of applications including: medical, laboratory, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, electronics manufacturing, food processing, plating, countless industrial processes, and even the final rinse at the local car wash.
The “rotten egg” odor in some water supplies is caused by sulfide in water. Sulfide can be treated using oxidation techniques, the goal being to convert the sulfide to high oxidation state species such as sulfate to eliminate the taste and odor concerns. Traditional oxidation techniques such as ozone and chlorine can be used, but can be expensive due to the equipment required to add and monitor the oxidant, and can lead to by-products such as trihalomethanes (THMs), which are regulated in drinking water supplies.
Pressure reducing valves (PRVs) are used throughout water distribution systems to reduce pipeline pressure to a predetermined set point. This decreases water loss and prevents pipe breaks.
One of the most common processes in wastewater treatment is the activated sludge method, which biologically treats the wastewater through the use of large aeration basins. This process requires the pumping of compressed air into the aeration basins where a diffuser system ensures the air is distributed evenly for optimum treatment. The energy needed to provide compressed air is a significant cost in the operation of a wastewater treatment plant.
The Series 1520 CHLOR-A-VAC® affords high efficiency addition and mixing of gases and liquid chemicals resulting in substantial chemical cost savings.
The FieldLogic™ Hand-held Device (HHD) is a reliable, flexible electronic device used to collect and store meter readings and program SmartPoint® modules. You can upload pre-programmed route information from our PC-based FieldLogic software using Wi-Fi or the device’s Ethernet-enabled communications/charging stand as an interface. The unit comes with built-in capacity for expanded uses.
SITRANS TF is used where other transmitters can't cope. One main point is its rating of IP67.
The European Commission’s Aerosol Dispensers Directive (ADD) legislation (UN ADR 2013, 75/324/EEC) mandates that aerosol dispensers and small receptacles containing compressed gas (gas cartridges) must pass a leak-proof test before they are transported. Cascade’s CT2211 leak detection system detects and rejects leaking aerosol cans up to a rate of 500 cans per minute. The system is contactless, ensuring minimal product damage or contamination. With the increasing number of safety and quality standards required, Cascade’s CT2211 will ensure current and future regulatory compliance.
The Millennium II (M21) single channel universal transmitters have been engineered from the ground-up to include the innovative features that managers and operators in the field demand, while providing rock solid day-to-day operation, even in the most extreme conditions. The Millennium II redefines what you expect from a fixed gas detection solution.
Every time a pump or valve is operated, potentially dangerous transients are introduced in your water distribution or wastewater system. Unchecked, transients can have catastrophic consequences on your pipes and equipment, operators, and customers.
Recently, I had the opportunity to tour a unique and innovative facility, the Bureau of Lab Services (BLS), the “water quality heartbeat of the Philadelphia Water Department” (PWD), as described by BLS director Gary Burlingame.
For many utilities, failing pipelines and non-revenue water are atop the list of concerns. However, these issues can be greatly mitigated by leveraging readily available data in an intelligent way — through smart water management.
Rather than waiting on water scarcity and reacting to a crisis, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is forging its own future, and that of others, by blazing a trail of water-reuse practice and policy.
Not just a solution for water-scarce cities by the sea, desalination is also vitally important for industrial processes and many inland utilities reliant on groundwater. Like other treatment technologies, continued water security and prosperity depend on improvements in the processes and developments on the horizon.
As manufacturing across the world further develops, new chemicals and contaminant threats are being introduced into the environment, creating new challenges for industrial and municipal treatment operations.
Do you know that people throw away about around 4 million tons of rubbish on a daily basis, of which 12.8 percent is plastic?
In most developed countries, drinking water is regulated to ensure that it meets drinking water quality standards. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers these standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
Drinking water considerations can be divided into three core areas of concern:
Drinking Water Sources
Source water access is imperative to human survival. Sources may include groundwater from aquifers, surface water from rivers and streams and seawater through a desalination process. Direct or indirect water reuse is also growing in popularity in communities with limited access to sources of traditional surface or groundwater.
Source water scarcity is a growing concern as populations grow and move to warmer, less aqueous climates; climatic changes take place and industrial and agricultural processes compete with the public’s need for water. The scarcity of water supply and water conservation are major focuses of the American Water Works Association.
Drinking Water Treatment
Drinking Water Treatment involves the removal of pathogens and other contaminants from source water in order to make it safe for humans to consume. Treatment of public drinking water is mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. Common examples of contaminants that need to be treated and removed from water before it is considered potable are microorganisms, disinfectants, disinfection byproducts, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals and radionuclides.
There are a variety of technologies and processes that can be used for contaminant removal and the removal of pathogens to decontaminate or treat water in a drinking water treatment plant before the clean water is pumped into the water distribution system for consumption.
The first stage in treating drinking water is often called pretreatment and involves screens to remove large debris and objects from the water supply. Aeration can also be used in the pretreatment phase. By mixing air and water, unwanted gases and minerals are removed and the water improves in color, taste and odor.
The second stage in the drinking water treatment process involves coagulation and flocculation. A coagulating agent is added to the water which causes suspended particles to stick together into clumps of material called floc. In sedimentation basins, the heavier floc separates from the water supply and sinks to form sludge, allowing the less turbid water to continue through the process.
During the filtration stage, smaller particles not removed by flocculation are removed from the treated water by running the water through a series of filters. Filter media can include sand, granulated carbon or manufactured membranes. Filtration using reverse osmosis membranes is a critical component of removing salt particles where desalination is being used to treat brackish water or seawater into drinking water.
Following filtration, the water is disinfected to kill or disable any microbes or viruses that could make the consumer sick. The most traditional disinfection method for treating drinking water uses chlorine or chloramines. However, new drinking water disinfection methods are constantly coming to market. Two disinfection methods that have been gaining traction use ozone and ultra-violet (UV) light to disinfect the water supply.
Drinking Water Distribution
Drinking water distribution involves the management of flow of the treated water to the consumer. By some estimates, up to 30% of treated water fails to reach the consumer. This water, often called non-revenue water, escapes from the distribution system through leaks in pipelines and joints, and in extreme cases through water main breaks.
A public water authority manages drinking water distribution through a network of pipes, pumps and valves and monitors that flow using flow, level and pressure measurement sensors and equipment.
Water meters and metering systems such as automatic meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) allows a water utility to assess a consumer’s water use and charge them for the correct amount of water they have consumed.
